The Boston Celtics have two representatives in the finalists for the NBA's end-of-season awards: Rookie Jayson Tatum and coach Brad Stevens.

Tatum's Rookie of the Year case is strong, although it picked up steam in the postseason -- too late to affect the media voting, which took place at the end of the year. Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons is the favorite, although Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has a chance as well. Both shined during the regular season and put up better year-long stats, while Tatum's biggest performances took place during the playoffs.

Brad Stevens has shied away from taking any credit for the Celtics' success (even saying he would vote for 29 other coaches before himself and calling praise "uncomfortable" and "silly") but his Coach of the Year candidacy is even stronger than Tatum's ROTY case. The Celtics were incredibly successful despite losing Gordon Hayward in the first minutes of the season and have continued to succeed after Kyrie Irving went down for the year. Much of that credit, of course, belongs to the players, but that's the case for any coaching candidate. Stevens has put his very talented players in position to succeed all year and has helped direct the team throughout a myriad of obstacles. He has also helped players like Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier develop.

Awkwardly, the favorite seems to be Dwane Casey, who the Toronto Raptors fired after being swept once again by LeBron James. The other option is Utah's Quin Snyder, one of the more impressive defensive minds in the game.

Al Horford was not a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, despite strong season. The three DPOY candidates were Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert.